Chương 150: Vouivre Delenda Est (16)

Eole had fulfilled her promise. She had come to free her people from Vouivre. Her song echoed through the air, carrying her fury and indignation at the state of her people. The dragonkin squad began to twitch and roar upon hearing her melody, a hint of their former selves and lost humanity breaking through the animalistic mindset their transformation had reduced them to.

"They are confusing our minions!" Casval protested. Simon had learned that those who relied on slave collars and magic were only one counterspell away from rebellion when Eole ended up merging with the Two-Tailed Fish in a previous reign, but Vouivre and her brother were about to experience it firsthand.

"Not all of them," Simon replied. His fiend-possessed demodragons remained under his control, and the false kish under his command were bound by Devil Brands no song could remove. He immediately gave them a simple order.

"Sing louder." If Eole and that airship reached the Lighthouse, Vouivre would shoot them down from the sky and kill them all. They had to be repelled for their own safety. The false kish sang with a replica of Eole's voice, their clashing songs mixing into an atrocious cacophony. The dragonkin cried and roared in confusion as they received different orders, some simply floating in place, others snapping their jaws at the airship and Simon himself in turn, while others opening fire on the fleet below.

A small horde of ghosts and will-'o-the-wisps arose from the rotting ships to intercept their attackers. Small balls of fire and screaming specters haunted the skies by the hundreds.

"Casval, Lorimor, target the cannons on the airship's sides and disable its loudspeakers! I want its crew alive, so focus on capture!" Simon ordered as he moved downwards to halt the undead tide. Sending his other allies to fight Voltobauta would more than likely than not end up with them turning into new undead enemies within minutes of engagement.

"Demodragons, incinerate this rotting fleet!" His demonic servants roared as one followed him into battle. Leaving the airship to Casval and Lorimor for now, Simon began to blast the incoming ghosts with various spells like Ectoplasmer and Gigatox. His Unquestionable Ruler should have let him take command of the mindless undead, but Voltobauta's grip on his troops proved stronger than his Perk. The specters helplessly threw themselves at him with reckless abandon, no matter how many of them he blasted away.

His demodragons descended upon the ships below with fury, vaporizing screaming spirits with their demonic flames and setting tattered sails ablaze. The merfolk under Queen Melusine's command also entered the fray, either slamming the ghostly ships' hulls to blow holes in them or outright attempting to climb and board them, their spears clashing with the swords of rotting brine zombies manning the galleys and caravels.

Simon had enough experience with necromancy to tell that the best strategy was to go for the Necromancer himself, which wasn't all too difficult; he had already seen Voltobauta's Ravenous flagship in a past reign and spotted it as the fleet's vanguard. The four-masted black carrack sailed ahead of its forces, its golden skull figurehead glimmering at the front and its crimson bat flag fluttering in the mist. Simon immediately directed two of his demodragons to bring it down.

"Burn that vessel and send it to the bottom of the sea!" His thralls roared and flew straight towards the Ravenous before blasting its hull with hellfire. Bloody runes flared on its decayed wood and dissipated the flames in an instant, before two phantom skulls flew from the deck. While one of the demodragons dodged one, the other was struck by the other projectile and fell dead into the water in an instant upon contact. Death X. Voltobauta was onboard.

Simon heard roars above him and turned to see a few dragonkin diving down at him with murder on their mind, having been freed from Vouivre's control by Eole's song. They unleashed flames upon him that he quickly shrugged off with his Ring of Cursed Flames. I can't let that airship reach our army or we might lose control of it, Simon thought as he activated his Dreadful Aura, the dragonkin attacking him falling dead the moment they saw him.

A flash of guilt coursed through Simon when the corpses turned back into humans and shifters, but he forced himself to focus on the mission. He then directed his phantom steed towards the Ravenous to take down the Necromancer himself. First Voltobauta, then Eole.

"Your Majesty, our divinations spotted the Rider's group advancing on us and the Lighthouse's Templars have begun a sortie to break our siege," Cassandra informed him through telepathy.

"Lady Vouivre asks for a report on your situation." Vouivre had been wrong, Mastemo hadn't folded at the sight of the Miasma Cannon. Knowing the Cleric, it might have only hardened his resolve to defend his holy site.

"The Adventurer and the Necromancer are attacking us," Simon replied,"I'm not sure if they are coordinating with Endymion."

"Lady Vouivre says this would be too big of a coincidence otherwise," Cassandra countered, and she was likely right.

"She orders us to engage our attackers."

"Follow her commands. I will rejoin you as soon as I deal with our interlopers." Starting with Voltobauta. The Ravenous' skull figurehead suddenly opened its jaw to reveal a small cannon hidden within. Simon barely had time to order his steed to veer left to dodge, but a blast of mana still managed to vaporize its back half. His steed collapsed back into the miasma from which it sprang and forced Simon to use Darkflight to land onto the Ravenous' black deck.

He found Voltobauta there, sipping wine on an ostentatious golden throne while he watched the chaos above. A pale female elf butler with raven hair refilled his glass as soon as he emptied it.

"Look at that," Voltobauta said upon spotting the Nightveiled Simon and meeting his gaze, "Are you an assassin, or the leader of these scaled ruffians?" Simon sensed him trying to worm his way into his mind, and failing. Charm negated by Indomitable Crown.

"You were a fool to come here, Voltobauta," Simon replied sternly as he looked over the deck. The Ravenous didn't seem to have any crew manning it, but he could sense the Dark seeping from the planks beneath his feet.

"You are not one to wage battles you cannot win. What made you think inviting our hostility would end well for you?"

"What, you think we're stupid?" Voltobauta finished his glass, tossed it overboard, and then rose from his throne. The butler's bottle of wine turned into daggers in an instant.

"We consulted the Oracle, who said it would be our best chance to save the shifters from slavery if we struck this place today." That omniscient bitch.

"She lied to you," Simon said as he summoned his morningstar.

"If you do not turn back now, all you will find on these shores is death and despair."

"You might be right," Voltobauta replied as he raised the same kind of small, handheld cannon Renal had used against Simon in Cocagne from under his cloak.

"But if a man is a man, he lives up to his word." His hand cannon fired a small, manalith projectile at Simon, who smashed it aside in midair with his morningstar and retaliated with Hellthunder. Voltobauta turned into red mist before the lightning could hit him while his butler threw a lightning-quick series of knives that harmlessly bounced off Simon. Poison ailment negated by Unyielding Essence.

"Disappear," Simon said as he slew the butler with a single Ectoplasmer, the impact throwing her corpse overboard. Voltobauta reformed atop the poop deck and whipped out his cloak, a trio of fireballs materializing out of it and lunging straight at Simon. He simply walked through them with his Ring of Cursed Flames shielding him from the damage. However, the deck soon began to shudder beneath his feet. Ghastly, corpselike hands materialized out of the wood and attempted to keep him in place.

He rotted them all to nothing with Putrefy, but this allowed Voltobauta to snip him with a Death X spell. Instadeath negated by Unyielding Essence.

"Just how many immunities do you have?!" Voltobauta complained. He had found his worst match-up possible.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" Simon replied with a little bit of sympathy before enchanted arrows hit his back and shoulders. He looked up to find skeleton archers having suddenly appeared on the crow's nests above and now firing projectiles at him. They barely inflicted any damage since they broke on impact after failing to penetrate his Overlord armor, but they were still distracting. Simon ordered his remaining demodragons to smash the crow's nests atop the masts, which they did by outright smashing into them.

He ran past falling skeletons and leaped atop the poop deck with some help from Darkflight, his morning star smashing the spot where Voltobauta used to stand a second ago. The pirate deftly dodged and retaliated with a rapier that suddenly appeared in his free hand. It struck past Simon's guard and grazed his shoulder, trying and failing to drink his lifeforce. Energy Drain negated by Unyielding Essence." Seriously?" Voltobauta asked with the most annoyed tone imaginable.

He disengaged from close combat to dodge Simon's counterstrike, then fired away with his hand cannon instead.

"Did you tailor your entire build to counter mine?"

"You're quick for a Necromancer," Simon mused out loud as he deflected the shot. He looked above as explosions rocked the sky, thanks to Lorimor and Casval exchanging fireballs and beams with the airship's cannons.

"Oh, this is not my Necromancer outfit," Voltobauta replied lazily, "I only pull it out when I'm in real trouble."

"Let's put that boast to the test then." Simon glared at the undead. Mindflayer. The psychic blast took Voltobauta by surprise and caused him to lose his balance, allowing Simon to grab his face with his free hand and cast Gigatox. The Necromancer let out a roar of pain as acidic ooze ate away his eyes and face, melting his mask and flesh alike. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Tell the airship above to turn around and leave," Simon ordered as he raised his mace to shatter his skull.

"Listen while you still have ears, and you may yet keep your unlife."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but… she dragged me into this." Voltobauta turned to mist again as Simon's morningstar phased through him, then reformed back on the deck. His mask was gone, revealing poisoned sores and wounded red eyes beneath.

"Fine, a serious fight then." His outfit changed in a flash, becoming dark robes topped by a skeletal mask and a black-brimmed hat, a great scythe replacing his handheld cannon and rapier." Soul Resonance," he said. The air grew chiller all of a sudden, with Simon freezing in place as a thousand screams echoed across the fleet. He watched on in surprise as the hundreds of ghosts which had been harassing his flying forces and merfolk allies suddenly gathered in a vortex swirling towards Voltobauta.

They entered his body and swelled his veins with miasma and mana, causing his muscles to ripple beneath his robes.

"I usually don't do this, but…" Voltobauta extended his cloak like a bat's wings and let out a strident roar.

"Behold my true form and despair!" And then he transformed. A wave of miasma smelling like fresh blood erupted from him and reshaped his flesh into a towering beast. His cloak turned into wings of clawed bones bound by a crimson membrane, and his robes were shredded apart to reveal pulsating purple muscles and ectoplasm-fueled veins. His face transformed into a ghoulish, eyeless bat-like maw that his Class mask merged with, his nails lengthening into claws.

The creature towered over ten feet tall and burned with magic. Interesting… did he merge with all those spirits? Simon wondered as he channeled magic into his hand. Knowing better than to use ailments on a juiced-up undead, he chose to focus on pure offense. Ectoplasmer might make him stronger, which leaves Corrosion.

"Gigatox!" Simon cast at Voltobauta, hitting his chest with poisonous slime… except this time, the acid hardly managed to do any damage.

"What the–""Now it's your turn," Voltobauta replied as he lunged at Simon." Hasten!" He became a blur too quick for Simon's eyes to follow and struck him in the chest with force rivaling that of Thalas. Simon was flung across the poop deck, only managing not to fall off it by summoning Shadowchains to bind himself to the floor… and that only lasted until Voltobauta bullrushed him again, teeth first.

Simon barely managed to block the monster's jaws with his morningstar before he could bite his head off, but this gave Voltobauta the opportunity to crush him in a terrible embrace.

His mighty arms pressed against Simon's back with enough force to snap a tree in two. Simon had grown so robust over the reigns he could resist it, but it still hurt." Exsanguinate!" Voltobauta hissed through his bound jaws. Simon immediately sensed his magic take hold of him, and blood rushed out of him through every opening. His eyes, his mouth, his nose, his ears, even his ass… every single hole in his body began to expel blood in copious amounts.

He could feel it work its way up his veins and towards his other orifices through Voltobauta's wicked power. His Lovestuck transferred the effect to Shabram's sacrificial agent, but a second attempt stuck. Bleed ailment transferred by Lovestruc- Bleed Ailment!

"Finally!" Voltobauta exclaimed with glee and relief, though his attempt to drink his blood promptly soured his mood.

"Argh, even your blood is poisonous?! Now that's just petty!" Simon had experienced far worse pain, but the blood loss did worse than risk his life; it diminished his strength and allowed Voltobauta to force his jaws closer. With no other choice, Simon began to tap into the lifeforce of his thralls to heal himself quicker than he could bleed out while casting Mindflayer. Voltobauta hissed as he took Simon's psychic pain and energies head-on, yet he didn't let go of his target.

The two entered into a battle of attrition, with the vampire trying to shatter his back while he tried to wrench himself free. A pity that the outcome was determined from the start.

"You're strong, vampire," Simon complimented his foe.

"But I'm as strong as the Berserker." Having regained his strength, Simon jabbed Voltobauta's throat with his free hand so hard it drew blood. The vampire coughed in surprise and lost his concentration, allowing Simon to break himself free with a Chaos Wave. The telekinetic wave propelled Voltobauta against one of his ship's masts and shattered it.

"Restrain him," Simon ordered his demodragons, two of them descending upon the deck and slamming onto Voltobauta from all sides. Simon switched strategies by removing his Class outfit and then joining his hands.

"Lightstone, burn that which offends thee! Kindling!" Voltobauta managed to punch a demodragon off him right as holy flames descended from the heavens to consume him. A pillar of blue fire hit him with all the glowing might of the sun, melting away his undead flesh and causing him to scream in odious agony. The sacred power of the Light Megalith hurt him just as much as it inflicted terrible wounds on Simon himself. The two demodragons bit his arms and then pulled in two directions, quartering him.

Vampires, so strong and yet so vulnerable, Simon thought as he chanted Voltobauta's final rites.

"Lightstone, burn that which offends thee! Kindl –" A blade sharp as the wind sliced the two demodragons' heads off in a single flash of steel, freeing Voltobauta. Realizing the danger, Simon barely had time to put his Overlord outfit back on as a fleeting shadow faster than Renal closed the gap between them in an instant. He cast Chaos Wave to repel her, the tip of a sword grazing his chest. His attacker landed on her feet still a few steps away from him, graceful like a feline.

A raven-haired beauty in her late twenties with pale blue eyes, Lorean features, and a slim build, she wore a form-fitting Class outfit composed of a red tunic held by a blue sash, simple leather boots, a small white scarf, a backpack, and a fashionable feathered hat. A silver blade resembling the Mana Sword's replica glittered in her hand.

"Trouble?" she asked Voltobauta.

"He's… tough," Voltobauta admitted, coughing smoke. He quickly grabbed a beheaded demodragon to gorge him on its blood, to no avail.

"His mace put… Anti-Heal on me… can't regenerate..." This just keeps getting worse, Simon thought as he faced his new opponent.

"Alcyone Hyades, I assume?"

"Am I that famous?" The woman smiled as she raised her sword at him with a duelist's grace.

"Who might you be, mysterious stranger clothed in darkness? If you open up with bad poetry about struggling with your inner darkness, I'm out."

"The name's Beli–" Simon froze once he spotted another figure on the bridge, standing next to Voltobauta; a feathered figure garbed in kish clothing, holding a harp. He immediately cancelled his Dreadful Aura before she could notice him and fall to Insteadeath.

"Eole?" Eole's head snapped in his direction, her eyes widening in a mix of shock and unease.

"Simon?" she asked, likely recognizing his voice.

"Simon, is that you?"

"Eole?" Simon couldn't believe his eyes. Did the Adventurer's fast travel let her take people with her when she teleported around?

"What are you doing here?!"

"I am here to fulfill our covenant, to free my people from Vouivre's grasp," Eole reminded, frowning.

"Why are you fighting us? Why do you… why do you look like this?" Alcyone's eyes widened." You're our agent in Vouivre's army?"

"You could have told me… from the start…" Voltobauta complained as he forced himself back to his feet, his wounds bleeding profusely.

"Curse my rotten luck…"

"It's…" Simon clenched his teeth.

"There's no time to explain. You need to leave, now."

"I can't!" Eole snapped back angrily.

"Have you seen what Vouivre has done?! She…" Her teeth clenched when she looked up at her doubles in the sky.

"She used my face to… to enslave my own people!"

"It's…" Simon gulped, trying to word it in a way that wouldn't break her heart further.

"It was unavoidable, Eole." She stared at him for a moment, her skin paling.

"How did Vouivre know what I look like?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"You… you did this?"

"I told you I would have to sully my hands to win her trust," Simon replied, not denying his crimes.

"I did what I had to do to learn her weaknesses and spare you those sins." Eole scowled with pure fury and indignation, but then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright…" she said, clearly forcing herself to think rationally.

"Alright… then let's end this, together."

"I told you, it's not the time–""This is the time," Alcyone insisted.

"The Oracle said as much.

'Strike today and the hammer of justice shall fell the dragon queen.' This is our opportunity!" The hammer of justice? Did the Oracle mean Euphemia? Did she predict a confrontation between her and Vouivre without being aware that Simon's presence would throw her prophecy off the rails? Could they… could they actually kill Vouivre today?

"Simon… remember our covenant," Eole said, extending her hand at him.

"If we let Vouivre live any longer, there won't be a Telluria or world to save. She will kill everything and everyone. If we join force–""It won't be enough," Simon replied, though the truth was that he was unsure.

"Victory… isn't guaranteed."

"It never is, but we must try anyway," Alcyone replied before frowning.

"Wait… it's not fear that holds you back, is it?" Eole scowled.

"What do you want, Simon?" Her question was met with silence. Simon had no idea what to do now. Nothing was happening as he had foreseen, and so many unknown factors had entered the fray… and if Endymion won and gained the Chest of Worlds… and what would it matter without Anna? Her father wouldn't forgive her death nor Simon's betrayal, nor would Euphemia and Louis… he had alienated nearly all of his allies. Should I stay with Vouivre or turn against her? Simon wondered, shaking. Why… Why am I hesitating?

She's a monster and this could be our opportunity to take her out for good… there might never be a better chance. So why? Why was he hesitating? Because it's another of the Oracle's plans, Simon told himself, I can't follow her plots when they always include my destruction as a key element. And if she didn't foresee me, then her prophecy means nothing. He couldn't change course now, not before he had accessed the Chest of Worlds and its contents.

The risk that it ended up in Endymion's hands and away from his right when he was on the verge of claiming the Abyssal Chronicle was too grea – Casval's roar echoed above them, his shadow flying over Alcyone. The Adventurer leaped away from the poop deck right before he crashed onto it and landed right next to her allies.

"Friend Simon, are you alright?!" Casval asked with what could pass for genuine concern. The dragon moved in front of him protectively, baring his fangs at Eole's group.

"I'm… fine, Casval," Simon replied, right as a song echoed out from the sea. He heard Melusine's voice leading a chorus of mermaid voices. Their melodies bent the very water beneath the fleet, causing them to turn into a swirling whirlpool growing in the middle of the fleet. Ships were slowly dragged into its deadly embrace, the Ravenous shaking as it began to drift towards the storm's edge. Voltobauta appeared to recognize the song, much to his dismay.

"It's the Charybdis Rhapsody!" he shouted in panic.

"The mermaids are sinking my fleet!"

"And you along with it!" Casval said as he gathered his breath, but Simon stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Friend Simon?"

"Leave now, all three of you, and do not return," Simon ordered Eole's group, gathering his breath. He only had to look above and see their airship's wreck falling towards the sea from Lorimor's continued eyebeam blasts to tell how this battle would go.

"It's… too late."

"Yes… I concur." Voltobauta muttered, turning to look at Alcyone.

"The crew first." Alcyone scowled in frustration, but the dark look on her face paled before Eole's own.

"Why?" she asked Simon, her question heavy with sorrow, incomprehension, and the sting of betrayal." Why?"

"I… I can't turn back now," Simon muttered back, to her and to himself.

"I have to see how this ends, Eole." Her glare turned hateful, her eyes traveling to the dragon at Simon's side and then back at him. She held back tears, her fists shaking. Simon took a deep breath.

"Eole–""Shut up," she interrupted him immediately, her words venomous, "I was wrong about you. You're just another slaver." Her words hurt because she was right. The Adventurer grabbed her and Voltobauta, then teleported away. Simon watched from the deck with sorrow and the clear realization he had made a mistake.

"Friend Simon, you may climb on my back to ration your miasma," Casval said.

"It is a long way to the shore."

"Yes… yes, that's wise," Simon replied grimly as he moved to climb onto the dragon's back.

"Why did you come, Casval? I told you to focus on the airship."

"I was concerned about you," Casval replied as he expanded his wings.

"I didn't want to see you die."

"That's… kind of you, Casval." Could he… could his concern actually be genuine? Simon had dismissed it for a long time, but now he wondered.

"Why did you spare them?" Casval asked as they took flight, leaving the Ravenous to be sucked into the whirlpool.

"I didn't say anything because I trust you, but we could have taken their Crestones."

"I don't know," Simon admitted.

"I don't know what I want."

"You do," Casval replied, "You want us. You choose us."

"I see why you came to me," Vouivre had told him earlier in their reign.

"You have more in common with us than with them." And it was then, as the wind blew over Voltobauta's sinking fleet, that Simon realized that she was right: he did enjoy the company of the demons and cold-blooded lizards he had joined hands with this reign more than the likes of Anna now. Leading a branch of the Cobweb as a crime lord and conquering Telluria had both felt more natural than his time at the Academy. What… What am I becoming? Simon wondered as he looked at his clawed, gauntleted hands.

What kind of person am I now? The question rested heavily on his mind, right as a beam of purple light seared a burning horizon. Simon looked up to see a great tower tilt and snap. The Lighthouse was crumbling.